Thursday, October 29, 2015

This past week was a little crazy. Two 5ks, a new workout program, and launching a new business with my daughter! I've also made the decision to train for the 2016 NYC marathon, using a plan that's easier on my body
I was considering MCM, but from what I've heard this week it is not Back of the Pack friendly and that is not ok.
Anyway, let's start with the workouts. I've been 1 part lazy, 1 part active since my last update.
I started off with a rest day on Friday, followed by back to back weekend 5ks. On Monday I started Turbo Fire On Demand at Beachbody.
This Monday, my daughter and I are officially launching our Jamberry business with an online party.
Whew!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Today was the second 5k of the weekend, and my second crash test for a half marathon costume. It's so important to wear your costume at least once before a big race, to be sure there will be no chafing or other mishaps.
Today I tested my Wine and Dine costume.... Daisy Duck. I still don't have a hat, I'm hoping they have one in Disney, but I did buy a duck bill just in case.
Morgan came with me again, but she was pretty whiny about the drizzly weather and the aches she had from yesterday's 5k. Total teenager moments going on.
I told her we would get the bibs and tees and sit in the car, just to see if it would warm up. Worse case, we would walk the whole thing.
When we lined up, it was warmer and the rain had stopped, so we decided to try and jog it for a little bit. She ditched me before we even hit mile one.
Brat.
So I had no teenie and no music. No biggie. I managed to maintain roughly 12 minute miles the whole time, despite the tired muscles and the hilly course.
We had a great time and finished, which is all that matters. My goal was under 38, and I finished in 37:26.
Afterwards, we scored some free Mike's Subs and birch beer from a tap. Pretty much made my whole day.
Then in to our town's Halloween parade to see my friend's float.
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

Saturday, October 24, 2015

This morning I ran the Monster Dash 5k for the 5th year. This was one of my first races ever, and one of my favotites. It benefits a local First Aid company and runs mostly along the boardwalk. My feet really like that part.
This year, the Teenie ran it with me, which was fun. We were supposed to have matching costumes, but she left hers at school. A few last minute dashes about the house, and we came up with costumes for both weekend races.

Today was test race #1, this is the costume I am wearing for Rock n Roll Philadelphia, which is held on Halloween this year.

We went to the race early, so that we could watch the kids run the mile fun run. A few of my little friends were running, so it was extra fun to watch. Afterwards, we hung our inside to.stay warm until the race started. It was a chip.finish, but not start, so I wanted to be sure we lined up in time.

The race course is about 50% on the boardwalk, which I love especially for my poor feet. They are about 95% better but I'm not taking any chances! Teenie turned her ankle, which slowed her down, but she walked it off and still managed to beat me by a couple minutes. I finished in just over 34 minutes, which has me very happy. I am slowly making progress towards my usual pace.

Afterwards, we had our free lunch from one of the restaurants on the boardwalk and then walked to a local donut shop that makes your donut as you watch. And what is a cop without a donut?

My legs are achey tonight, I did an hour of PiYo last night, and both workouts were mostly lower body, which was probably not wise.

I am not sure how tomorrow's 5k will go, but it will be fun, and that's all that matters to me at this point.

Friday, October 23, 2015

I'm obsessed with peanut butter. Add chocolate and you have the perfect food. When I had the chance to try out Peanut Butter & Co's new Mighty Nut powdered peanut butter it was a no brainer. In exchange for this review, I received a jar of chocolate and a jar of original powdered peanut butter. Perks of being a Sweat Pink Ambassador!
Let's start with the obvious benefits. Noooooooo, not the deliciousness of it, or the way it helps with my insane cravings for peanut butter.

Well, ok, those are solid points.

It's gluten free, and the ingredients are peanuts, dried cane syrup, cocoa, and salt. It's also a non GMO product. It has 85% less calories than peanut butter, only 1 gram of fat, and 5 grams of protein.

Shortly after receiving it, the hubs started putting it on his vanilla ice cream and boy was using it in his shakes. Did they take pictures? Of course not.

Blogger family fail.

I told them to keep their mitts off of it, so I could make peanut butter cookies with it. The recipe is gluten free and uses a lot of peanut butter, and I wanted to be sure that I had enough.

So I took out my recipe for the cookies and started mixing the powdered peanut butter with water. I started with 6 scoops of powder and 3 scoops of water. It looked amazing but it didn't look like enough so I doubled it. Yummmm

It tasted fabulous.

Yes, I tasted it. Twice. OK three times. For real, this stuff is amazing. Just grab a spoon. Forget the recipes, or the food you can eat it with. Just a spoon. That's all you need.

Time to add the sugar. I started with a cup of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla, and an egg from my friend's chicken. Gotta love fresh eggs!

My daughter told me I needed to add a tablespoon of baking soda. She later texted me back and said ooops! baking powder, but by then it was too late.

The batter looked too thin, more like a cake than a cookie, so I added 4 scoops of original powder to it, and another half cup of sugar.

The batter still looked thin, but what's the fun of an experiment if you don't actually experiment? Right?

Soooo, experiment #1 is a bit of a fail. The cookies puffed up in the oven but cooled flat as a pancake and kind of raw inside. They taste really good. Again, it's an experiment so I had to try! They are just a hot mess. Half crispy and half gooey.

I forgot to time the first batch, so the second batch went in for the 10 minutes, and then I put them back in for 3 more. They still looked a little undercooked.

So the second batch looks pretty much just like the first batch. I definitely need to try again using baking powder. I didn't take a picture of the end result because some failures just need to be kept private! I will try again sometime this weekend with baking powder, and I will measure the peanut butter, which I didn't really do the first time. I just eyeballed it. Sad, but true.

So, now I am going to go make some more chocolate peanut butter, to dip some.... let's be real. I will eat it off of the spoon. Why lie?

Mighty Nut comes in original, chocolate, vanilla, and flax & chia. Which one do you want to try? The lovely people at Mighty Nut are allowing me to give away one jar in the winner's choice of flavors, plus a measured scoop like the one in the first picture!

Thursday, October 22, 2015

I've been sick for the last week, so the workouts have been few and far between....

There have been some dog walks, aND that's about it. I'm so exhausted all the time, and I have had a headache since Sunday. Hoping for a reprieve soon, because I rrally need to workout. The hubs and I did PiYo together on Monday morning before he left for work. He makes the best noises when we do PiYo l, like he is about to die. It's hysterical and it makes me feel badass.

I sat down the other day and plotted out the next few months. I plan to do PiYo every day, as well as a Beachbody series, and run three times a week. I've been lazy for so long, that I feel the need for a change!

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Yesterday, instead of a race, we went to visit my daughter at college. It was Homecoming and she was dancing at half time with her dance team. We froze our butt off and left early, we are losers like that.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

This week was kind of a lazy week. I got my runs in, but little else. I also ate all the food. Allof it. As you can imagine, it didn't end well. But. I got back on track and have managed to lose what I gained, and I'm ready to keep moving in the right direction.
I'm really liking my Wave Rider 12s. They fit so well, and they provide the support I need. I am using them for every other run right now, until they feel 100% broken in. I'm hoping to wear them for RnR Philly on Halloween.
So back to the workouts.....

I totally counted apple and pumpkin picking as a workout! We must have covered 3 miles walking around out there, plus all the picking and carrying. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Monday, October 12, 2015

Ok, so your first question is probably "What is NESS"?
The National Endurance Sports Summit hosted their 2nd annual Summit this past weekend at Princeton University. It is a chance for athletes and interested persons to come together from across the country for a weekend of inspirational presentations, panels, and clinics about the transformative power of endurance sports to make a difference in one's own life, community, and world.
I totally took most of that from the handout, I am not that loquacious!

So, I arrived about 10 minutes early, but they weren't letting anyone into the building until 8, which was when we were supposed to start checking in, so no one was ready to check us in. They let us go into the first clinic without checking in so that we wouldn't miss anything.

The first clinic was proprioception with Shane Eversfield. Shane was amazing, he explained everything so clearly and taught us some useful balance and stretching exercises geared towards runners. Shane is an Ultra Endurance athlete who favors Tai Chi. He is also the founder and head coach of Zendurance Cycling. I now have a few stretches and exercises to do before every race, as well as every morning.

Next was Mindful Running, a Round Table group that started with Meg Waldron leading us through a meditation exercise. I'm not gonna lie, I really enjoyed it. My mind wandered a couple times, but I managed to keep it reigned in. Afterwards we all talked about our experience with the person next to us. My person was Kat Longshore, who was one of the presenters. She was awesome and we talked about being more mindful every day. She followed me on Twitter afterwards so now we are BFFs.

Then it was on to Vinnie Tortorich, a former celebrity trainer. It was supposed to be fact and fable in fitness and health. He started with making a Periscope video, which I'm in, where he told us all these questions people were asking him. Watch the video though, and there were no questions asked. Hmmmmm then he told us about his life and how he got started, and I kind of thought he was a jerk. Then he talked about his battle with Leukemia, and then he said we could ask questions. Ummmmmm so no talk was actually ever done. I was not a fan.

Next was Going Further for a Greater Cause. The original write up gave me the impression we would be learning about fundraising. It was more of a commercial for these four people who started foundations of their own. Seriously. These people were super impressive, and I was in awe of them all, but it didn't really help me at all, so I was confused about the purpose, other than giving them a chance to ask us all to help them out. One kid has run like 20 marathons, including one on every continent. He is 11. He has raised a bunch of money for people that have treatable blindness.

Ok, lunchtime.

My fellow Ambassador and I went into town and had some amazing burgers, and talked about the 2nd half of the day. Most of the seminars that were geared towards runners had been on Saturday and I noticed that we were the only people there that weren't with one of the presenters. They all seemed to love talking to each other, but I wasn't feeling very involved.

We decided to try one or two more before we called it a day.

We got back just in time for the first discussion of the second half, The Psychic Side, Untold Stores from Endurance Sports.

Ummmmmm

Okay, the moderator started off saying that sometimes we have preconceived notions about the way we feel about things, and that we aren't willing to stray from our beliefs. I totally agreed and was feeling optimistic. Then he said he was going to hypnotize the whole room, which was an epic fail, but also kind of interesting. He had one of the organizers come up and repeat words over and over and then asked us to write the words down. They were all about sleep and relaxing. He never actually said the word sleep though, but most of the room wrote that word down. I'm guessing it was the power of suggestion, which is kind of cool.

Then he opened up the floor to anyone who wanted to talk about a moment in their lives when they felt divine intervention. A bunch of the other presenters started talking about it, and then it was time to move on.

We decided to move on out to our cars and go home. It just wasn't for us. I really want to go back next year, though, and attend on the first day when it really gears towards runners.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Ugh
Thursday night my friend Dave tagged me on Facebook to let me know that his parking reservation had been cancelled and to beware that mine might as well. I didn't get an email so i thought that maybe they overbooked and I squeaked by. Friday afternoon I panicked a little and called them. Sure enough, the day before the race, I had no parking. I found the closest available and found that I would have a 35 minute walk to the race, at least. In the dark. In Brooklyn. Alone. Oh joy. In order to get there, park, walk.tonthe bib pickup, and start by 7, I would have to get up by 3:30 in the morning. Omg.
When the hubs found out, he freaked and basically begged me not to go. Since my foot is just healing and I've done 4 miles at the most since recovering, I decided to stay home.
Ugh.
Luckily, there was a 5k race just 3 miles from my front door. I got up at 6:30 and rode my bike there.

Because they had to postpone due to Joaquin, I got to pay the regular fee instead of the race day fee. Score.

I watched the Littles do the one mile fun run, and the it was time to line up. It was basically a hilly out and back, so I went into it with a realistic goal of 36 minutes, and hoping it would be under 38 at the most. I left my watch at home so that I wouldn't push myself harder than necessary, but I did turn on my Nike app and left my phone in my Running Buddy so that I wouldn't be tempted to peek at it.

It felt hard from the start, it was damp and cold and it seemed like everyone was in front of me. It was disheartening, but I decided to focus on my music, and try and pick off one runner at a time.

First was a run/walker who kept zipping in front of me with such speed! I soon noticed, though, that she was stopping closer and closer to me and soon I passed her for good. Next was a pair of runners that started out running, but started to take walking breaks around mile 2. After some leap frogging, I passed them as well. I passed a few more before we hit the final turn back into the park where we started.

I was so excited to see that my time was 35:36 and I met my goal. Then I checked the app and found that the course was long and my actual 5k time was 34:03. Ecstatic! I filled out my card and dropped it into my age group basket, seeing that there seemed to be 3 cards ahead of me. Figures.

I always try and stay for the awards though, so that I can cheer everyone on. I was shocked when they called my name for 3rd place in my age group!

I think I might sleep with that medal! It's my first ever Age Group medal! I'm still bummed that I missed Brooklyn but it wasn't such a bad change to the day.

My very first running skirt was a Skirt SportsHappy Girl Skirt. I LOVED IT. Since becoming an Ambassador, I have added several more to my wardrobe. My first ever was pink....

Since then I have added black, blue, Escape, and I am pretty sure I will be adding Dream this week as well.
The length of the skirt (17 inches) is just perfect for gals like me, that have a little extra in the thigh area. It is modest, which suits me. I never feel self conscious when I wear them. And let's not mince words, I need to combat the chub rub. The shorts that are built in are 7" long. 7.inches.long. SO perfect! They never creep up. Never. Plus, there is a pocket on each leg of the shorts to hold your phone, your fuel, your fitbit, your keys..... Add that to the zipper pocket on the back that is great for holding keys or emergency cash, and you are good to go!
For those that store your music in your shorts pockets, there is a handy little music port built in for easy access headphones.
Oh, and the Aero-Light jersey fabric has UV +50 sun protection!
Most importantly, they are cute! I have made it my goal in life to eventually own every possible color, and I am confident that I can manage that feat with very little trouble.

The lovely ladies at Skirt Sports are generously allowing me to give away a Happy Girl Skirt this week. I chose this week in honor of my participation in the Brooklyn Half Marathon. (I posted my Flat Mama yesterday, check out which color I went with!)

The Rafflecopter went live at midnight, and will end at midnight on the 16th. I will post the winner the following Monday at the latest. I know it stinks to wait, but that weekend is my daughter's very first Homecoming/Family Weekend at college, and she is dancing at the football game, so we will be busy most of the weekend. If I get the chance to announce it sooner, I totally will!
Good luck!!!

The shoes arrived at a perfect time. I was ending my 6 week break from running, so that my foot could heal. I couldn't wait to wear them, I actually ended up running a mile in them before my 6 weeks was up! Can you blame me? They.are.so.pretty.

They fit well, too. The toe box has just enough extra room, and they are nice and snug around my foot and heel. The first couple of runs were a little stiff, but that may have been my feet getting back into the groove. I wore them for some training runs and a race.

Overall, I am very happy with the shoes. They are definitely a little stiffer than the ones I was previously wearing, but I don't find that to be a deterrent at all. They feel really good on my feet, there is no pinching, no blisters. The true test will be at Rock n Roll Brooklyn this weekend, but I am confident that all will be well for that distance as well. They grip the street and the boardwalk well, and even in the sand I was comfortable. I will test them on a trail soon, although it is more dirt road than actual trail.

I recommend these to anyone who needs a solid support shoe.

From Mizuno:

Wave Inspire 12: Built-In Support System Dynamically supportive.

Flexibly light. The new Wave Inspire 12 has the lightweight support you need to farther and longer.

With an improved upper that provides a soft-yet-structural fit and increased blown runner for maximum durability, this shoe provides the stability you need to stay on the road longer. What’s New 

Improved upper has a supportive design for a soft-yet-structural fit. 

Increased blown rubber in the forefoot for improved durability and softness. 